Software for documenting Electrical Wiring?

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John McAleely
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Software for documenting Electrical Wiring?

Postby John McAleely » Fri Jan 11, 2013 10:02 pm

I'd like to draw up some schematic wiring diagrams for my layout, by way of documenting how the wiring works.

Are there any good software packages to help with this? I've had a rummage on the internet, and can find options for PCB diagrams, and some stuff that looks like it would suit building installations. Is there anything for the kind of wiring more typical on a model railway?

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John Bateson
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Re: Software for documenting Electrical Wiring?

Postby John Bateson » Fri Jan 11, 2013 10:10 pm

I use TurboCAD ...
Plinth 02 Main Platform Area.png


It did what I wanted it to do.

John
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Slaving away still on GCR stuff ...

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Russ Elliott
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Re: Software for documenting Electrical Wiring?

Postby Russ Elliott » Sat Jan 12, 2013 12:06 am

I use MS Paint:

somersham-new-panel-wiring-2008.PNG
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Terry Bendall
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Re: Software for documenting Electrical Wiring?

Postby Terry Bendall » Sat Jan 12, 2013 8:02 am

I work it out as I go along, and may then jot down some notes afterwards :D Of course the layouts that I have wired up have all been quite simple. I do however try to be strict about colour coding of wires.

Terry Bendall

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Paul Willis
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Re: Software for documenting Electrical Wiring?

Postby Paul Willis » Sat Jan 12, 2013 8:13 am

Terry Bendall wrote:I work it out as I go along, and may then jot down some notes afterwards :D Of course the layouts that I have wired up have all been quite simple. I do however try to be strict about colour coding of wires.

Terry Bendall

Terry,

John's a software engineer. That's the approach that they all use at work (I know a _lot_ of software engineers... It's borderline acceptable if you're programming Nokia handsets, less so for the friend that wrote the guidance software for the Tornado GR1 fighter).

So the message that I get is that as this is for relaxation, John wants to do the job properly ;-)

Flymo
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Paul Willis
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Re: Software for documenting Electrical Wiring?

Postby Paul Willis » Sat Jan 12, 2013 8:15 am

John McAleely wrote:I'd like to draw up some schematic wiring diagrams for my layout, by way of documenting how the wiring works.

Are there any good software packages to help with this? I've had a rummage on the internet, and can find options for PCB diagrams, and some stuff that looks like it would suit building installations. Is there anything for the kind of wiring more typical on a model railway?

I've never heard of anything, so I suspect that the default answer may indeed be "whatever drawing package falls to hand". That ranges from the Rolls Royce option of Mr Bateson to the Pensioner's Bus Pass (i.e. free!) of Mr Elliott.

What interests me is that whatever tool is used is quick and easy. I know that some people have Templot as a hobby, designing the layouts rather than building them. However for most people it is a mere tool, a means to an end.

So I believe that this probably will be as well, unless anyone is a particularly enthusiastic member of MERG. So I'm actually interested in Russ's diagram as it has a lot of very neat symbols included.

Do you keep these as a library to avoid re-drawing them each time? And if so, would you consider posting it as a file for the benefit of other members, to save them the chore?

Cheers
Flymo
Beware of Trains - occasional modelling in progress!
www.5522models.co.uk

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Re: Software for documenting Electrical Wiring?

Postby Pannier Tank » Sat Jan 12, 2013 8:50 am

Flymo748 wrote:
So I believe that this probably will be as well, unless anyone is a particularly enthusiastic member of MERG. So I'm actually interested in Russ's diagram as it has a lot of very neat symbols included.

Do you keep these as a library to avoid re-drawing them each time? And if so, would you consider posting it as a file for the benefit of other members, to save them the chore?

Cheers
Flymo


I would also be interested to hear more from Russ on how he achieved the excellent drawing.
Regards

David

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Guy Rixon
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Re: Software for documenting Electrical Wiring?

Postby Guy Rixon » Sat Jan 12, 2013 7:00 pm

A few years ago, when I still had a Windows computer, I used Smartdraw for line drawings and found it quite nice to use. It has a mode for drawing circuit diagrams. However, never used the electrical-symbols library myself.

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Russ Elliott
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Re: Software for documenting Electrical Wiring?

Postby Russ Elliott » Sat Jan 12, 2013 7:24 pm

Yes, I have a simple sheet of symbols that serve as a library, which I've re-assembled below in a more logical fashion. These are copied and pasted and flipped, rotated, etc in Paint, all of which are very simple processes. Here's the file; help yourself.

symbols.gif
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Paul Willis
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Re: Software for documenting Electrical Wiring?

Postby Paul Willis » Sat Jan 12, 2013 8:30 pm

Russ Elliott wrote:Yes, I have a simple sheet of symbols that serve as a library, which I've re-assembled below in a more logical fashion. These are copied and pasted and flipped, rotated, etc in Paint, all of which are very simple processes. Here's the file; help yourself.


Russ,

Thank you very much indeed.

Cheers
Flymo
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John McAleely
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Re: Software for documenting Electrical Wiring?

Postby John McAleely » Sat Jan 12, 2013 10:13 pm

Flymo748 wrote:
Terry Bendall wrote:I work it out as I go along, and may then jot down some notes afterwards :D Of course the layouts that I have wired up have all been quite simple. I do however try to be strict about colour coding of wires.


John's a software engineer. That's the approach that they all use at work (snip)

So the message that I get is that as this is for relaxation, John wants to do the job properly ;-)


Chortle. Please rest assured I am bringing my full professional experience to this matter. To whit, one board has already been part wired 'from my head', and I fully intend to proceed in parallel with my documentation effort.

I'm aiming for something like comments in code - hopefully useful if easy to keep up to date, as opposed to obviously wrong, if hard to update...

FWIW, I am hoping to find something that understands the aim is to draw a connected set of components, so that as the documentation evolves, old connections are maintained by it (in perhaps new places on the diagram), and not me.

Terry Bendall
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Re: Software for documenting Electrical Wiring?

Postby Terry Bendall » Sun Jan 13, 2013 8:49 am

Flymo748 wrote:So the message that I get is that as this is for relaxation, John wants to do the job properly


Of course. We all have our different ways of doing things, and generally we use the method that works for us. ;) The main thing is the the wiring works when it is in and you can find faults easily.

Terry Bendall

philchudley
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Re: Software for documenting Electrical Wiring?

Postby philchudley » Sat Feb 02, 2013 8:31 pm

Another possibility is TinyCAD available for free from

http://sourceforge.net/apps/mediawiki/tinycad/index.php?title=TinyCAD

Just got it myself to try out, no user guide though but it looks fairly straightforword

All the best

Phil

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LesGros
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Re: Software for documenting Electrical Wiring?

Postby LesGros » Sat Feb 02, 2013 11:20 pm

There is a piece of software called "Livewire" obtainable from Maplin Electronics. Connected components can be moved around whilst retaining the connections. Another feature permits the simulation of the circuit; such that if you try to pass too high a current, then vulnerable component will be shown to "burn out".
It is not cheap but comes with comprehensive help and tutorials. There is also a related program for producing drawings for etching PCBs.

Link: http://www.maplin.co.uk/livewire-circui ... ator-33100
LesG

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grovenor-2685
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Re: Software for documenting Electrical Wiring?

Postby grovenor-2685 » Sun Feb 03, 2013 10:22 am

You could try a PCB design programme such as KiCAD http://www.kicad-pcb.org/display/KICAD/KiCad+EDA+Software+Suite or Design Spark http://www.designspark.com/
The schematic section should do what you want but you will need to make a lot of new symbols as the included libraries are for electronics rather than layouts. Keith
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Keith
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